Page 128 of August Lane
He threw back his head and laughed. Then he reached into his suit jacket and handed her a flyer. “Consider this a job application.”
It was for the Delta Blue Showcase. The simple flyer was covered with names and booking fees written in blue ink. “What is this?”
“Me getting angry about the right things.” He tapped the flyer. “There’s a Black touring revue down in Biloxi. Noir Root. They do a little of everything. Country. Blues. Folk. These are the acts they could confirm. They’re working on adding more.”
She recognized a few names, but most she hadn’t heard of, which was exactly what the showcase was for. Introducing new voices to the festival audience. “We can’t pay them,” she said, pointing to the fees. “All the money was used for Jojo’s concert.”
“I also lined up a sponsor,” he said. “A patron eager to make amends for her role in some of your bad press.”
August drew a blank. “I don’t know anyone with that kind of money.” Then it hit her. Bad press. “Charlotte Turner?”
“Luke’s ex,” David said. “She’s looking to invest more. Fund an indie label. Maybe a publishing company. All more inclusive than what’s on mainstream radio.”
August stared at the list of performers, more than the showcase had featured in years. Delta Blue would reap the benefits, maybe even turn a profit this year. Even David looked eager, more optimistic than she’d ever seen him. “Indie? You?”
“I know. It’s less money. But working with you is a much bigger reward.”
The door swung open, and Mavis rushed in, breathless. “David, we need you,” she sputtered. “Something is going on with Jojo’s flight. I got this email from the driver we sent that she never boarded. I’m afraid there’s been some mix-up with the airline.”
David pulled out his phone and started texting. “That doesn’t make sense. I confirmed it myself.”
“She won’t answer anyone’s calls. I’m afraid something’s happened to her.”
Panic snaked through August. She retrieved her phone and opened her messages. Still no response. Just the original apology with no explanation.
“Pick up, Johanna,” David barked at her voicemail. “Everyone’s worried about you.”
I’m sorry. For missing her birthday? No. For something else.
Oh.
Of course.
“Hang up,” August said quietly. “David, hang up the phone. She’s not coming.”
He looked startled. Mavis tried to laugh. “Of course she is. We have a week of photo ops and school visits—”
“She won’t come,” August interrupted. “It’s my fault. I know everyone put a lot of time and money into this, and I’m really sorry.”
She could tell they didn’t believe her. David left the room with his phone in his ear, shouting at someone. Mavis looked nauseous. “She wouldn’t do that.” She spun around, staring out at the expensive stage. “Not to all these people.”
Sometimes it took hearing your despair in someone else’s voice to recognize it for what it was. Before Mavis spoke, before her voice shattered over that final whisper, August had been cloaked in the usual numbness she felt when Jojo disappointed her. Fine, like always. Always fine. Only she wasn’t. She was the girl it hurt to love. Jojo’s trauma in the flesh. She never should have believed her mother could face all that in front of the world.
“You should go,” August said. The voices outside were growing high-pitched and frantic. “They need you.”
Mavis hesitated and then rushed out of the room. August closed the door, sat on the couch, and cried hard enough to lose her voice.
Luke thought David was calling to brag about saving the showcase again. He was slow to answer, prepared to be unimpressed. But then he heard“August” and “You need to come now,” and he ran out the door, ignoring everything the man was trying to tell him because he was too afraid to listen, too busy praying to a God he’d stopped talking to years ago.
It wasn’t a good prayer—more like hysterical, empty threats.Don’t take her from me. Don’t you dare.He ran three stop signs on the way to the fairgrounds. There was a crowd out front, a sea of protesters and cameras. He would have punched his way through if Bill hadn’t cut him off before he could reach them.
“Put your fists down,” Bill said. “She’s okay. Just real upset.”
The story he was told on the way backstage wasn’t true. He could tell by how consistent it was that everyone was reciting words from a press release: “Out of concern for everyone’s safety, Jojo Lane decided to postpone the concert until further notice. The Hall of Fame induction will be held at a private, undisclosed location and streamed at a later date.”
He didn’t learn the real reason Jojo backed out until he reached August. Her eyes were swollen. She was slumped and lethargic, staring down at her hands. And he knew. This wasn’t about security. It was Jojo, once again, abandoning her daughter.
Luke approached her, and she blinked as if she didn’t believe he was there. He smoothed her hair from her face and tried to smile. “Hey, sweetheart.”
